Lucknow – 2025
In a cinematic world dominated by billion-rupee spectacles and algorithm-approved content, a quiet film titled‘Ghazal’has become the unlikely anthem of India’s independent cinema resurgence. Shot in Urdu and Hindustani, set entirely in the old alleys of Lucknow, and rooted in music, memory, and melancholy,Ghazalis nowheaded to the Sundance Film Festival, making it one of the few Indian entries to be officially selected in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition this year.
Directed by debutanteAarifah Mir, a poet-turned-filmmaker, the project has also securedinternational co-financing through the Hubert Bals Fund and Cinereach, marking a rare moment whereSouth Asian storytelling is being globally nurtured—without needing to shout to be heard.
The Story: Echoes from a Vanishing Culture
Ghazalfollows the story ofRuhan, a retired Urdu professor in his late 60s, who, after losing his voice to a neurological illness, begins writing anonymous ghazals that slowly circulate through the city’s underground poetry scene. As a curious young student begins tracing these poems back to him, what unfolds is a layered story ofart, anonymity, and the fading architecture of language itself.
Unlike melodramatic fare,Ghazalis meditative, steeped instillness, calligraphy, and fading mehfils. The cinematography, composed almost entirely of dusk-lit frames, feels like a poem itself.
Critical Acclaim and Global Buzz
Early private screenings at NFDC’s Film Bazaar drew raves, with critics comparing it to:
- The Lunchbox for its emotional restraint
- Capernaum for its interior dignity
- And Roma for its visual devotion to place and silence
The film has been praised for:
- Non-performative storytelling that doesn’t exoticize its culture
- A deeply authentic portrayal of Awadhi Muslim life—not as a backdrop, but as the emotional nucleus
- A soundtrack of original ghazals, composed by classical maestros and rendered in minimalist acoustic form
The Power of Soft Cinema
Ghazalis part of a new wave ofIndian indie films not defined by anger or activism, but by intimacy and observation. These are films that whisper instead of roar—and still manage to be heard across oceans.
Its Sundance selection is more than symbolic; it’s a sign thatthe world is ready for Indian stories beyond tropes—where language, grief, and silence carry as much drama as explosions ever could.
A New Indie Vanguard?
WithGhazal, India’s indie scene is finding global scaffolding. In a post-pandemic, post-OTT rush era, young directors are reclaiming:
- Slower pacing
- Uncommon dialects
- Old-school storytelling through lyrical cinema
Aarifah Mir, speaking to film students in Pune, said it best:
“Our stories don’t need to prove they belong. They already do. We just need to say them like we remember—not how we’re told to sell them.”
Final Word
In a world of content churn,Ghazalis not just a film.
It’s a resistance to forgetting.
Because sometimes, revolution isn’t loud.
It rhymes softly—and leaves you humming long after the credits roll.
